DON’T GET ME STARTED was startled late Wednesday morning when I heard that Sabres GM Tim Murray was in the middle of a blockbuster 7 player trade with the Winnipeg Jets.
Art Wander
I know my cranium will see scrambled brains trying to make sense out of who got the better of the deal – Buffalo or Winnipeg. OK, here are the players involved.
WINNIPEG RECEIVES defenseman Tyler Myers, forward Drew Stafford, minor league prospects Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux plus a first round pick in this year’s draft. It will be the lower of Buffalo’s 3 first round picks Buffalo had. Buffalo, reportedly, will pay half of Stafford’s remaining salary.
In exchange: BUFFALO RECEIVES highly touted Evander Kane, a 4th pick in the draft a few years ago, plus defenseman Zach Bogosian and goaltender prospect Jason Kasdorf.
The key to the deal was Buffalo letting Tyler Myers get away from them. Several teams have reportedly been hoping to lure Murray into dealing with them. But, apparently, the name of Evander Kane made the deal with Winnipeg more attractive to Murray.
The question arises, “Who got the better of the deal? There were 2 key players – Kane and Myers. Many say the Jets win that tussle.
On the surface, I think the Winnipeg Jets got the better of the deal.
There are many fans, I among them, who didn’t relish trading away Tyler Myers. You don’t find “future-Chara-types” who can bring the puck up the ice. At least, the 6’8”Myers left on a high note, scoring Buffalo’s only goal in a 2-1 defeat against Ottawa Tuesday night. And Myers will probably play in his first playoff game if the Jets make it.
As for Kane, his name kept coming up but he won’t be helping Buffalo this season. He’s on injured reserve and likely will be out 4 to 6 months with a shoulder injury. In 37 games this season, Kane had 10 goals and 22 points.
With the Bills picking up the controversial Incognito, will the Sabres have to put up with some controversy with Kane? The question arises that perhaps Kane has to mature following an incident this season when Kane got miffed something involved a teammate and bolted from the team well before a game.
Buffalo gave up a couple of up and coming prospects in Armia and Lemieux, especially the latter. It’s still determined how the “new” goalie, Kasdorf, will fit in with the organization.
So there’s still the March deadline for trades. Of course the oft mentioned Stafford’s name will not be uttered as it has been for the past couple of years so we’ll see what Murray has in mind on Don’t Get Me Started.
Filed under: Don't Get Me Started
Tagged with: Art Wander, Buffalo Sabres, Evander Kane, Tim Murray, Tyler Myers
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